Australia’s ‘Disgusting’ Cigarette Packs a Big Headache for Sellers

At a convenience store in Sydney, owner Joe Xia starts a case to show his new stock of cigarettes.

The cigarettes are available in obligatory olive-colored plain packaging as element of Australia’s anti-tobacco actions – identified as the toughest in the world.

According to this law, logos are taken out and changed to cigarette warning labels and terrible pictures of sick babies, and diseased feet, eyeballs and lungs. The cigarette brand names are printed out in small font on the front and top of packs.

Currently, the owners of stores are worrying that they consider it difficult to tell the brands apart.

Xia, who is the owner of a 7-Eleven store, said that the new terrible packaging was a headache for store staff. “It is very difficult to find the cigarettes that people are interested in,” he told.

Xia said consumers are against the new health labels on the packaging, but he did not think it would minimize smoking rates.

“Nothing will prevent them from smoking. But it is hard at nighttime. People go back from the club and they see these packets and they get frustrated.

The new cigarette packages have been presented since November and will become obligatory from December 1.

The Gillard authorities are convinced the new packaging will cut smoking levels.

Researches have shown that people, particularly those who are younger, are less likely to be attracted to smoking when the packets are not shiny or colorful.

Cigarette companies, worrying other countries will consider Australia’s lead, have introduced various legal struggles against the actions.

In August, Australia’s High Court terminated a challenge by British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco, which stated that the regulations unlawfully extinguished the value of their trademarks.

But cigarette firms state that the new actions benefit the black market and that illicit tobacco sales have increased in Australia in 2011.

Othman Moussa, who has worked in a cigarette store in Sydney’s Darling Harbour for the past 24 years, said he knows the structure of his cigarette shelf and can still find the various cigarette brands.

Certainly, one of the country’s main transportation firms, Linfox, is supposedly renegotiating its delivery agreements as the new packets are making it more costly to supply retailers.

Moussa said he has not seen a reduction in customers, but notes that they are likely to walk away less contented.

He said that his business is going well, but people criticize the negative images.”